Two Days In... St Louis

It’s the Midwest, yet it’s the south to warrant a quick, entertaining getaway.

No matter the weather, head to Forest Park, larger than New York City’s Central Park, to choose which world-class free admission attraction you’ll enjoy: the St. Louis Art Museum; Missouri History Museum; St. Louis Science Center; or the St. Louis Zoo among the choices.

Just a few blocks away from Gateway Station, the historic St. Louis Union Station Hotel (www.stlouisunionstation.com), a AAA-approved Four Diamond property, is a stunning stack of bricks inside and out. One of the Historic Hotels of America, it was reincarnated from its previous life as St. Louis Union Station, at one time the largest and busiest train station on the planet.

A ride to the top of the Gateway Arch soaring 630-feet over the Mississippi River is practically a necessity for any visitor to town.

Music fans won’t want to miss the compact yet immersive National Blues Museum (www.nationalbluesmuseum.org) which opened just last year.

Locals love the muffeletta sandwich and the live tunes at Blues City Deli (www.bluescitydeli.com) or get to the Delmar Loop (visittheloop.com), sort of the Wicker Park of St. Louis, to nose around indie record, book, coffee and tea shops; bars and restaurants; boutiques; art galleries; and Bluebery Hill, a bona fide St. Louis landmark where Chuck Berry duck walked across the stage more than 200 times.

Food and Wine magazine recently got hip to the earthy food in the Missouri town. The Fountain on Locust, the most photographed restaurant in the city, ostensibly due to its hand painted art deco murals. It serves visit-worthy soup entrees and hearty sandwiches, potent inventive cocktails and luscious ice cream (fountainonlocust.com).

The craft beer revolution hasn’t passed by the Lou. In the shadow of the city’s colossal beer history in Anheuser-Busch, there are satisfying upstarts from 4 Hands Brewing Company to Urban Chestnut pulling the handle on great German-style beers perfect for the colder months. At a quarter century old, Schlafly is Missouri’s largest locally owned independent brewery so it brews more than 70 different kinds of beer.

To put a finer point on your St. Louis excursion, go to www.explorestlouis.com.